president obama has been clear about it all along. >> unfortunately, the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance. you know, he talks, for example, about $800 billion worth of revenues, but he says he's going to do that by lowering rates. and when you look at the math, it doesn't work. >> you see, if we lower these rates, then the job creators will go out there end and all this money to hire a bunch of people, and that's going to contribute more to the tax base. and gosh, we're just going to take care of all of our problems. we have tried this stuff, and it didn't work. when leaders mcconnell and boehner feed the base, it makes it harder for them to come around and later on lead their members towards a sane deal with the president of the united states and democrats who, by the way, won the election. let's bring in former virginia congressman, tom perriello, now the president and ceo of the center for american progress action fund. tom, good to have you with us tonight. >> always good to be here. >> you bet. have republican leaders boxed themselves in by catering to this fr